


Rock and Ronin

by Moon_Stone



Category: Samurai of Hyuga (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Rock Stars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 14:32:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8804590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Stone/pseuds/Moon_Stone
Summary: Music is a wonderful art form, that has a way of bringing people together and can help them communicate complex ideas, emotions and feelings. So what better way learn who you are, to inspire and protect a nation, to save Hyuga then through an alternate universe modern day rock and roll music extravaganza? Join the gang as they build bonds and rock their way up the charts to the number 1 spot. Will they make it big? Or has the curtain closed on this preform?





	

Sitting alone in the music room Masashi exhaled a deep breath before closing his eyes and let his fingers dance across the piano.

In his mind, he was on stage in front of large audience dressed in a waistcoat and cravat like he had seen foreigners wear in the 17th century. The crowd was mesmerized by him as he played Chopin’s _Nocturnes Op. 9 No.2_ , not even the most difficult song he could play. All eyes were on him as the music rose and dipped like the tide. With each measure strings slowly emerged from the piano and slithered into the crowd. The strings latched on to the people in the audience, turning them into puppets at the mercy of Masashi and his mystic piano. Each puppet was in the rush to please their new master as they fell over themselves to prove they were his “biggest fan”. However as great it was to be showered in the audience’s affection it wasn’t as satisfying as he had hoped. In fact, it was a bit depressing that they put him on such a high pedestal when he wasn’t putting in effort. It made him feel cheap, like his talent meant nothing and that they would be impressed no matter what he did. Then as he reached the end of the piece, he noticed thin strings like the silk from a spider dangling down from up above him and connecting to his hands.  He froze but the strings forced his hands to move, bringing the song to completion.

The sound of applause echoing through the room startled Masashi out of his daydream (though it was more of a nightmare than a daydream).

“As diligent as always, Hashimoto-san. You truly are an inspiration.” Standing at the doorway to the music room stood Masashi’s mentor and teacher, Satsuma. A child prodigy in his own right, Satsuma had won many accolades for his work in the music business both in front and behind the sense. He was a legend and had personally taken it upon himself to bring Masashi under his wing.

“Sensei-”, Masashi quickly rose to bow to his superior, causing the piano bench to screech across the floor.

“No, please, there’s no need for that,” Satsuma said advancing into the room and stopping Masashi mid bow.  “I should be bowing to you for you are truly a master worthy of respect. I have never seen so many grown men weep as they do when you play. I think there is hardly anything left I can teach you.”

“I…thank you! You are too kind!” Despite Satsuma’s protests against it, Masashi bowed anyways, if not to as a sign of respect then to hid the blush that had spread across his face.

“Not at all. You work hard and are deserving of praise.” By this point, Satsuma had made it to the piano, his hands caressing the polished wood as one would a lover. “However, I have begun to notice a change in you Hashimoto-san.”

“You have?”  Masashi asked cautiously as he rose from his bow. This was the first shot Satsuma had made to Masashi’s pride, knowingly or not. Still the young pianist tried to play it off in hopes that Satsuma hadn’t meant a negative change. “You must be talking about my rise in skill. There is always room for improvement, though. So please watch as I improve. I am determined to be the best!”

“Yes, you have improved but there is still a lot left to be desired from your performance.” 

“Y-you think so?”

“Tell me, Hashimoto-san, do you like playing the piano?”

“Of course! I have been playing for as long as I can remember and I am more dedicated and skilled than anyone else!”

Realizing he had been shouting at a man he respected and was just a few steps in front of him, he apologized and lowered his voice. “I am uncertain how my performance sounded dispassionate to you but it perhaps is due to me not truly being a master yet. I still need practice. Please, give me some time. I am sure with a bit more work you will see how passionate I am.”

“I’m sure with time you will grow more skilled.” Satsuma nodded to himself and turned to leave, moving with effortless grace. “For now, I’d like you to take a break from preforming.”

“Sensei?”

“I’ll rearrange the schedule so that others can cover your scheduled performances.”

“Sensei, you can’t!”

Satsuma paused at the doorway; whether it was in response to Masashi’s outburst or to deliver the final and killing blow, Masashi would never know. “I’ll still allow you to perform in concert at the end of the year of course. However, I will be watching to see just how you have improved.”

As soon as Satsuma left Masashi’s legs gave out and he fell back collapsing onto the piano bench. A year. He would have to go a whole year without preforming while his competitors lapped up the chance to rise in popularity. This could ruin him and his career just as it was starting to take off. He had to get better, he had to convince Satsuma he had passion as much as any other master pianist. But how?

 

~*~

“Ugh!” Yuko groaned as she laid sprawled out face first, on a park bench, guitar in a case strapped to her back. Her head was killing her as well as her back, legs, and stomach. Judging by the setting sun she would assume she had been sleeping there all day. After a quick pat down, she was positive nothing had been stolen but her memories of last night.

_Okay think, Yuko. What happened. There was that concert last night. Good. I got to party with some people after the show. Good. Got to have a lovely one on one conversation with a very enthusiastic fan. Very good. Then I guess I got dropped of here to get back to my van._

She nodded to herself, satisfied with her assessment of her late-night exploits, only to groan again as her head started pounding due to her hangover. At least all the partying explained why she was so swore. Especially in some places.

After a good couple of minutes of cursing everyone and everything, Yuko finally slowly push herself up into a sitting position to avoid vertigo. She stretched her body, surveying the area around her as she did so. There weren’t to many people around as it was getting late and no reputable person hung around in parks after dark. It was a good thing no ever accused her of being reputable.

As far as Yuko could tell, she could go home now and get lectured by Toshio or wait until he left for work and have survive off of whatever scraps from dinner Hatch hadn’t devoured. As appealing as Toshio’s cooking sounded at that moment, Yuko was in no rush to leave and took out her guitar, placing the case on the ground.

Her guitar was an old classical acoustic that she used for practice and almost never left her side. It was visibly worn but still as beautiful as it had been when it was new. The guitar had this odd alluring presence as well as a unique design. While it looked like most Maplewood guitars it had a snake motif. The leather strap was made out of the skin of a Japanese striped snake and the design on the rosette and fingerboard matched. While the striped snake wasn’t really much of a treat, most people would only pay attention to the fact that the guitar had an interesting and dangerous snake aesthetic, that suited Yuko just fine.

She strummed the nylon strings lightly trying to get an ear on how in tune the strings where. She adjusted a few of the strings before playing a very beautiful and worldly song that she always found relaxing. It was one of the first pieces she had learned to play on the guitar and it was always a crowd pleaser. Though there wasn’t much of crowd in the park and Yuko was really only focused on how the music. She couldn’t help moving her body as she let rhythms flow out her fingers, through the guitar, into the air and back inside her through her ears.

As she was strumming she noticed someone walk up to her, she didn’t look up from her guitar, assuming they had just stopped to listen to the song. She was use to people watching her as she played. She loved how she was able to draw them in with just a song. The stage was the one place Yuko never felt out place. That’s why she wanted to be a star, or more honestly, that’s why she needed to be.

The sound of coins hitting the inside of her guitar case made her stop midway through the song. She was confused at first, then a bit offended. Did she really look like a beggar playing for pocket change? She looked up and around to find the owner of the what was about 570 yen and found what she assumed to be a middle school student walking towards the exit to the park. Yuko was not looking for handouts especially from kids. Sure, she could use the money to try and buy something for herself but she had a little bit of pride that she wasn’t going to let some kid stomp all over it. She grabbed the money and collected her thinks before making her way over to him.

~*~

 Masashi knew he shouldn’t have picked this night out of all nights to see the symphony. Yet no matter how hard he tried he honestly couldn’t help himself. He was supposed to be the one stage tonight accompanying the orchestra instead of sitting in the crowd wincing at all the little mistakes and how unpolished it the pianist sounded. However, the audience didn’t seem to notice and still seemed as in awe of the performance as they would have been if he had been on the stage. The display was too much for him to watch and he left before the concert was even half way finished.

At first, he lingered around the concert hall lamenting his situation, before he decided he need to get some air. He had called his driver to pick him up but due to traffic he wouldn’t be able to leave for at most another hour. With time to kill and let with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company, his thought fell on his parents. He hadn’t told them he wouldn’t be preforming any time soon but he hadn’t talked to his parents much since he was enrolled into Shugenja Academy.

 The Shugenja Academy for Gifted Students was private and prestigious institution that had a middle school, high school and college division that students all located on one large campus. Only the smartest and richest students where permitted to attend and Masashi fall into both of those categories nicely. Though somehow even if he wasn’t intelligent enough to attend Shugenja, his father would have forced him to study until he was. He had to bring honor to his family after all.

 _I will never be able to explain this to my parents. Not that I can wrap my head around exactly what my performance is missing either,_ Masashi thought to himself as he wandered off away from the concert hall into a small park nearby. Lost in thought, he almost didn’t notice how far he had gone until he heard the sound of someone playing the guitar. It was _Capricho árabe_. A beautiful piece of music composed by Francisco Tárrega at the end of the 19 th century. He had heard it once or twice before but it never sounded as good as it did now. He could feel the melancholy, love and most of all the passion that present in the piece. Maybe it was the location, which was a bit romantic, or the fact that he was more than a little emotional but either way Masashi couldn’t remember the last time he heard music that had left him in such a state of awe. He followed the song until he was led to a ragged looking woman rocking and swaying along to the music. Her long unkempt (and probably unwashed) hair blocked her face which was doubtlessly just as dirty. Her jeans were torn, her black tank top was faded, her black jacket didn’t look much better and her combat boots looked like they needed to be dishonorably discharged. 

 _Yes, it is definitely the atmosphere and timing_. _Even the melodies of this poor homeless woman sound magical when compared to the sad display I just left._ Masashi shook his head to help clear his mind as he fished out some money from his wallet. _Nevertheless, she deserves a tip for obviously having some skill and knowledge when it comes to music._ He dropped some yen into the woman’s guitar case like he had seen people do with other people playing for money and walked away towards the exit.

“Hey, kid!” Just a few meters from the exit the woman called out to him. He stopped and turned around slowly, unsure and bit nervous about what this woman could want.

“I think you dropped something” She said holding up the coins she could see them. “I’m sure your parents don’t want you going around giving away their hard earned money to strangers you meet at night. Go buy some candy of that with it or whatever you kids do these day.”

She smirked a cocky half smile that he was sure she thought made her look charming but it was not a sentiment he shared.  Did she just call him kid? Who did this strange woman who think she was?

“For your information, I am 15! Also, my name is not kid. My name is Masashi!”

“Oooh! My bad. Sorry you’re so short I thought you were a lost little toddler.”

“Enough! Give me back my money! I am not going to stand here and be talked down to by some vexatious vagrant!” Masashi demanded as his cheeks puffed up and he extended out his hand.

“The name’s, Yuko, _kid_. And for someone who looks like he just got out of diapers you talk like old man.” Yuko paused for a moment and though it over; stroking an invisible beard for added affect. “You know what? I changed my mind. I’m not going to let your kind donation go to waste. I’m keeping it!”

“You can’t! It’s my money and I say I want it back! You don’t deserve it!” Yuko chuckled to herself. For all his talk about not being a kid. The boy still acted like one and looked truly adorable as he tried to take his money from her. She kept him back with one hand and held the coins up and out of reach with the other as he struggled against her. He called her a thief and a villain in every way he could think of as he hit her in frustration. His punches were just as cute and painless as those of a child.

“Have you really sunk so low that you’re now stealing from children, Yuko-san?”

She paused and looked up and saw a handsome man with dark skin, green eyes and black hair that fell loosely just below his ears. 

“I haven’t taken anything from anyone, Toshio. You know that’s not my style.” Yuko snaked her arm around Masashi’s shoulders and leaned down close to his face. “This kid gave it to me. Oh, but that’s right. You’re not a kid; you’re a big strong man now, right?” Judging by the heat coming from his cheek as she rubbed her index finger against it, Yuko could tell he was blushing. She was starting to like how easy it was to tease him.

“Yuko-san…” Toshio warned with a disapproving scowl. She let out a sigh and stood up but didn’t take her arm from around Masashi’s neck. A fact that Masashi became oddly highly aware of, along with lingering smell of Maplewood and alcohol.

“In any case, I’m glad I found you. Hatchirobei-san was worried when you never came home. I’m glad to see you were just out enjoying nature.”

“Yeah, you know, nothing like camping out under the stars.” Yuko muttered, rolling her eyes. “If Hatch was so worried why are you here? Don’t you have work tonight?”

“He was looking earlier. I took over after he told me how he hadn’t seen you since after yesterday’s show.” He hadn’t answered one of her questions and she wanted to question him further but Masashi spoke up, obviously growing irritated that the Yuko had shift her focus away from him.

“I apologize but if I might interject; you had a concert that people actually showed up to see? Did they pay for tickets and everything?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’m just amazed at by what people will actual pay to go see.” Yuko had to give it to Masashi, he always seemed to be ready with an insult to throw at her.

“I impressed you, didn’t I?” Masashi’s pouty blushing face said all Yuko needed to know and made her grin with satisfaction.

“If that’s what you call manhandling me and refusing to give me back my money! I would have to say yes then! You definitely impressed me!”

It wasn’t what she called “manhandling” but his shouting so close to her ear was enough to trigger her headache. Letting go of him and stepping away from him, she started rubbing her temples in hopes to settle the pain.

“I must apologize for my friend. My name is Toshio. Please allow me to repay what she took from you.” Toshio bowed in respect as he introduced himself only to have Masashi follow suit.

“I am Hashimoto Masashi. Thank you for your offer, Toshio-san, but I cannot accept your money. You seem much more kindhearted than your companion and thus I could never take money from you. In fact, I need only an apology and I’ll be on my way. She can keep the money.”

Yuko was getting tired of Masashi’s flip flopping when it came to the money. “Well I guess you’re just going to stand here then because I am not apologizing. I didn’t do anything wrong.” This sparked another argument between herself and Masashi.

“Hashimoto-san, you expressed amazement at hearing that Yuko-san is a musician. Would you be interested in seeing her next performance? She is actual very talented.” Toshio interjected as the duo playing keep away was starting to attract the attention of passersby.

“What? No. He can’t come.”

Masashi struggled a little bit trying to grab the money while she was distracted. Failing in that, he gave up and questioned her. “Why not? I never though you would be the shy type.”

One thing Yuko could never be was shy, but this had nothing to do with that. “One of my concert’s is no place for a kid.”

“I already told you that I am not a child!” Masashi shouted again causing Yuko to flinch in pain as his voice banged around in her head. Masashi however didn’t relent, “I accept Toshio-san, while I am sure a ticket to see her play can’t be worth as much as she pilfered from me but it will have to do.” He wasn’t fully wrong. The tickets weren’t expensive or costly in the first place but she figured he didn’t need to know that.

After being made aware of the time and location as well as Toshio’s number, Masashi left telling Toshio goodbye and glaring at Yuko. When she was sure he was out of earshot she looked over at Toshio curiously.

“Are you sure about this Tosh?  You know the crowds can get kinds rowdy.”

He held out his hand to her. She looked at briefly before fishing the keys to her van out of her back pocket and handing them to him. “You didn’t recognize his name, Yuko-san?”

She thought it over as they went in search of her van. This wasn’t very hard to spot because few could miss the white van with painted images of samurais, geishas, ninjas and other related icons of the past. Also, present on the van was name of the band written in English with graffiti styled letters:

Ronin Stones

The whole thing looked incredibly tacky to Yuko but then again it had never been her idea to paint it this way in the first place. It had been one of Hatch’s well-meaning blunders. At the time, she had pissed when she found out what he done to was supposed to just be a rental but he had been right about one thing at least: it added character.

As Yuko and Toshio neared the van, she stopped finally remembering where she had heard the name Hashimoto. The kid was a piano prodigy from one of the richest families around. When he first started to get famous a couple years back he was all over TV and the internet. Everyone was calling him the “Beethoven of Today” or “The New Chopin”. She had thought everyone full of bullshit but that was mainly on principle.  The kid was good but she had seen better from kids that had twice the talent but not even a quarter of the wealth behind their names. His popularity wasn’t due to his talent it was due to how much money his parents could shell out. This was a shame because if he improved at all over the years then he would a pretty amazing pianist. 

“Hashimoto-san would make a great acquaintance if you are looking get your name out there.” Toshio said as he unlocked the car, obviously noticing the look of recognition on her face. “It also wouldn’t hurt for you to make some friends, Yuko-san.”

The last thing she needed in her life was more friends. Toshio and Hatch where more than enough. Yuko massaged her temples as she opened the van’s backdoor. She placed her guitar inside safely before getting in herself. Her headache was still growing and she needed to get rid of this pain, fast.

“Hey Tosh, you said Hatch was worried about me, right? What about you?” Yuko asked as she rifled around in the back of the van before sliding into the passenger’s seat with some aspirin and one of the bottles of green tea Toshio always made sure to keep lying around. It wasn’t sake but she didn’t mind drinking one especially on occasions like this.

Toshio was quiet for a moment and didn’t take his eyes off the road as he drove down the busy streets. If it was anyone else she would assume he hadn’t heard her and might ask again. A moment later and he spoke, finally settling on an answer.

 “I found you, didn’t I?”

**Author's Note:**

> Nocturne is french for night and Capricho is Portuguese for whims. I could have entitled this "Night Whims" or "Whims of the Night" but that sounds like a smutty romance novel. They are actually two beautiful songs and I recommend you give them a listen while you read. Any feedback no matter how negative is appreciated. I'd like to give a shout out to everyone who is part of the Samurai of Hyuga Discord forum. If your reading this and your not apart of it I'd rectify that posthaste !


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